Hill Doesn't Miss a Beat

by Manny Randhawa

After sitting out three games with a sore left hip, Hill scored 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field—including 3-of-4 from beyond the arc—in the Pacers' 91-84 win over the Toronto Raptors Friday night.

“I felt fine,” Hill said. “[My hip is] not where it needs to be, and I know that. But that’s where you have to use your mental approach to the game and try not to push it more than you can push it. You just try to get to the spots where you’re effective and things like that and try not to do more than you know that you can do.”

If Hill feels like his hip isn’t where it needs to be, he could’ve fooled everyone at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Friday night. Along with his 14 points, Hill grabbed four rebounds and had two assists in his 19 minutes on the floor.

Now that Hill is back at point guard for Indiana, he looks back at the performance of the two men who filled in for him while he was out with admiration.

“They did well,” Hill said of C.J. Watson and Donald Sloan. “I’m very proud of what they accomplished and as much as we can get that [type of performance], the better we’re going to be. I’m very proud of the way they stepped up and played well together.”

Watson averaged 11 points and 5.5 assists per game as the starting point guard in Hill’s absence, and Sloan was solid in 21 minutes on the floor in the Pacers’ win over the Bulls on Wednesday, posting nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

Hill added that Watson and Sloan’s efforts are just one example of what Indiana’s new – and much deeper—bench can do.

“We’re deep,” Hill said. “I think we can put anybody on our bench in and still be effective. One through 14, we have all great players, so you substitute one person, but you can come back in with the same firepower, so we’re happy with that.”

When all is said and done, for George Hill, basketball is basketball, whether he’s played every game of the season or missed time with an injury.

Maybe that’s why he played Friday as if he had been on the floor in each of the last three games.

“At the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Hill said. “You’ve got to put the ball in the basket. I don’t get into all the extra stuff you have to do. I just try to go out there and win, and play good basketball.”

So far, Hill and the Pacers have done just that, with a 6-0 record to prove it.